All in the family
by otherhawk
Summary: 'More things change' verse. Sometimes friends need favours that are nothing to do with crime


**Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Ocean's 11**

**A/N: This story is 'More things change' verse, set partly after O13 and partly two weeks after 'Learning Curve'  
**

* * *

The night was winding down and the celebrations were well and truly celebrated. Drink and conversation flowed in equal measures. Song, courtesy of Turk, Basher, Virgil and Yen and a frighteningly decrepit karaoke machine, flowed a little slower. Also a little faster. Also a little less tunefully.

Livingston, Frank, Linus, Saul, Reuben and Bobby had ended up sitting around the sofa, beer in hand, talking about everything and nothing.

"So what did you get your niece in the end?" Frank asked Livingston, after a pause.

Livingston sipped his drink while Basher murdered 'Stairway to Heaven'."A...well, I haven't given it to her yet. Her birthday's next week. But she's really into Disney at the moment. Snow White especially. So I got this VR set-up – Virtual Reality, you know? And it's kind of this neat little show of the palace. I wrote it myself."

Frank frowned. "What seven-year-old is into virtual reality?"

"Well I'm going to get her something else as well...." Livingston looked anxious. "Do you think I shouldn't bother?"

"You know, I used to think Snow White was evil," Linus commented out of nowhere.

Everyone stared at him. "Why?" Reuben demanded.

He shrugged. "_I _don't know. It was just what I thought when I was a kid. I just remember this whole thing about her forcing the dwarfs to go out to work so that she could buy Avon products."

The staring got a little more intense. "_Avon products_?" Reuben echoed incredulously.

Frank looked thoughtful. "Hold on, hold on here. Their Wintersoft handcare range is really something."

"This is what happens when you let delinquent teenagers look after your only child," Bobby said as a gloomy aside to Saul and Reuben.

Reuben laughed and Linus blinked suspiciously. "Wait, what am I missing here?"

Just then, Danny and Rusty came back minus the obnoxious painting that they'd left with and plus what appeared to be a diamond necklace and a slice of guitar-shaped cake. "What are we missing?" Danny asked with interest.

"Bobby just called you delinquents," Saul said severely. "And what have you been doing? I thought you were going for ice."

Danny held up the necklace with an air of puzzlement. "So we were."

"There's an icebucket by the door," Rusty told him, munching happily on the cake. "Bobby, why are we delinquents?"

Linus rolled his eyes impatiently. "He wasn't calling you delinquents he was....wait a...._what?"_

Rusty grinned. "What?"

"_What?" _Linus repeated faintly.

"What what?" Danny checked, pocketing the necklace. In the corner, Yen was singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The lyrics seemed a little different to the Judy Garland version.

"_You babysat for me?" _Linus shrieked, in a voice which almost drowned out the singing. "How? When? Why don't I...._How?"_

Frank frowned. "You let them babysit?" he asked Bobby incredulously.

Bobby glowered. "Molly's idea."

"Never mind whose idea..._why?_" Linus demanded wildly. "_How? _Why don't I remember? How old was I?"

Danny squinted thoughtfully. "Four," he said decidedly.

"Five," Rusty corrected.

Linus blinked. "I don't remember."

Rusty grinned. "Well, we're not very memorable," he murmured and Livingston choked on his beer.

"Also you were very young," Danny pointed out.

Linus was barely listening. He seemed a little fixated. "How did I not know about this?"

"We were saving it for the right moment," Rusty said with a shrug.

"Wait, wait, wait," Linus objected, "You guys aren't that much older than me. I mean you must still have been teenagers, right?"

"_Delinquent _teenagers," Bobby commented gloomily.

"Hey," Danny objected mildly. "We weren't that bad."

Reuben laughed. "The way I understand it you get to be a delinquent teenager if you skip school, drink, gamble and steal stuff. You trying to tell us you weren't doing any of that?"

"Not while we were babysitting Linus," Danny explained with a smile.

"I'm relieved," Bobby said, and it was difficult to see whether he was being sarcastic or sincere.

In the background, Basher was offering an earnest and heartfelt rendition of 'Son of a Preacherman'

"I don't believe you babysat for me," Linus muttered, still wild-eyed and frowning. "This is so _embarrassing." _

Danny and Rusty exchanged a long, unreadable look. "Why would it be embarrassing?" Danny asked at last, slowly. "You don't remember it. It's not like you _know _that you sang me the Smurf song."

"Oh, God," Linus groaned while Reuben snorted.

"Or made us an ice cream sundae out of sand?" Rusty contributed.

"Or asked Rusty if he was a girl?" Danny added with a grin.

Linus buried his head in his hands. "Oh, _God," _he said again. "You really babysat for me."

* * *

It started with a phonecall a few hours before Rusty really wanted to be awake.

"Hello?" he said sleepily, vaguely impressed that he'd managed to roll out of bed and stumble into the hallway before the phone had rung twice.

"Rusty? It's Molly, Molly Caldwell." She sounded uncharacteristically flustered, and Rusty was awake immediately.

"Is everything alright?" he asked quickly.

"No, listen, I hate to ask this, but I need a favour." Her voice was apologetic. Reluctant. Almost hesitant.

"Of course," he said immediately, and he couldn't think of anything they wouldn't do.

"I need you to take Linus for a few hours," she said, and Rusty felt his jaw drop. "Craig – my nephew – he's in hospital. Chickenpox, they think, but he's having trouble breathing...I need to drive Mom and Dad out there, and then I need to look after Louise and Lorraine – my sister's other kids – and I can't take Linus in case they're contagious."

He blinked heavily for a second, trying to take all of that in. Really, he felt that they were probably the least-equipped people in the world to try babysitting. But it wasn't like he was going to say no. "Of course," he said again. "I hope Craig's alright. Do you want us to come over or – "

" – I'll drop him off with you, if that's okay?" she cut in. "It'll probably be easier for Danny's leg."

It probably would be. Not that Danny was doing a good job of staying off the leg _anyway. _"Fine," he agreed.

"And Bobby will be up tonight to pick him up," she went on. "He's flying back, it just takes a while. He'll probably be back around nine."

Oh. Right. "We'll see him then," he said evenly. "When'll you bring Linus over?"

"As soon as possible. We just need to get organised...say around nine?"

"Nine," he nodded. "We'll see you then." And in the meantime he'd do some serious tidying.

"_Thank you, _Rusty," she said and her voice was filled with gratitude. "You're a real lifesaver. See you soon. Bye."

"Bye," he echoed and he stared at the phone blankly for a moment.

"What was that all about?" Danny asked, and Rusty looked over to where Danny was stood in his bedroom doorway, hand gripping the doorframe tightly.

"Crutches," he reminded Danny pointedly. "And we're looking after Linus for the day."

"I only just got up," Danny answered. "Bobby and Molly's kid?"

"Did Walt say you were to use the crutches all the time apart from when you just got up?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, ducking past Danny and retrieving the crutches from beside the bed. "And yeah, that Linus."

Danny glared at him and took the crutches sullenly. "Why?"

"Family emergency," he explained. "Molly's nephew has chicken pox. She doesn't want Linus to get it."

"Thought it was good to get it when you're young," Danny said with a frown, hobbling towards the kitchen and coffee.

"I'll get it," Rusty told him shoving him lightly towards the sofa. "And I guess it's better not to get it at all."

"Thought _that _was impossible," Danny said, still sullen, settling himself on the sofa. "I am capable of doing things for myself you know."

"Not till it stops hurting," Rusty said, clattering the coffee machine energetically. "And I don't know, I've never had it."

"How old is he?" Danny asked.

"Five."

"What are we going to do with a five year old?" Danny wondered as Rusty brought him a mug of coffee.

Rusty shrugged. They'd figure something out. He hoped.

* * *

Danny spent the next half hour or so watching Rusty tidy while he drank coffee, his leg stretched out comfortably on the sofa.

Their normal domestic routine was fairly simple; if they cooked, Rusty did it, if they tidied Danny did it. Danny didn't try to fix anything that happened to break, provided Rusty absolutely did not step within ten feet of the washing machine.

Of course, when Danny was laid up and incapacitated and hurting things tended to get left by the wayside.

"There's a sock on that lamp behind the TV," he pointed out helpfully.

Rusty picked it up and looked at it with an expression of curious distaste. "Is this yours?"

He shrugged. "Don't think so." He certainly didn't remember putting his sock on a lamp. And he thought he would.

"It's not mine either," Rusty commented. "That's a little worrying."

"You okay with this?" Danny asked casually.

"Random socks? Doesn't bother me," Rusty pulled a half-empty box of Crackerjacks from beside the sock. "Huh. No prize."

"The kid," Danny clarified patiently.

Rusty shrugged and didn't look at him. "It's fine, Danny. You're right, it's stupid. Besides, not like I could say no to Molly."

"Right," Danny sighed and watched Rusty some more. "You wanna dust the mantelpiece while you're at it?"

"We don't _have _a mantelpiece," Rusty pointed out.

"Pity," Danny said with regret. "I was thinking feather duster, little apron, short skirt, low-cut top – "

Rusty turned and stared at him. "Think Bobby would like it if you tried not to lead his only son astray."

Danny grinned. "I'll do my best." He sighed and struggled to his feet, and he was doing his best to pretend that his leg wasn't still hurting as much as it was. He laid his hand on Rusty's cheek. "You're not your father, Rus'," he reminded him quietly. "You'll never be your father. Not in a million years."

There was a moment and Rusty closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. "I know," he promised.

* * *

The doorbell rang and, with a deep breath, Rusty went to answer it.

Molly was standing there, looking harassed and holding a small blond boy in her arms. She smiled when he opened the door. "Rusty, thank you for this."

"No problem," he told her, standing back and letting her in. "Hi Linus."

Linus glanced up and waved at him shyly.

Molly set him down on the floor and knelt down in front of him. "This is Rusty, Linus. And this is Danny. They're friends of Mommy and Daddy and they're going to be looking after you till Daddy gets here."

"Nice to meet you, Linus," Danny said with his most charming smile.

Linus stared at him like he wasn't at all sure what he was.

"How's your leg, Danny," Molly asked intently.

"Fine," Danny told her with a careless shrug. And that wasn't all of the truth, but it was about as much of the truth as Danny was going to share. "You want a cup of coffee, Molly?"

"I can't stay," she said with a sigh. She cuddled Linus close to her. "I need to go now, Linus. You be good for Danny and Rusty, okay? And Daddy will be here before you know it."

"I will," Linus promised, and he had a very serious voice for a five year old.

Rusty walked her to the door and she handed him a bag. "There's some toys in that and a change of clothes and some pyjamas. He's a bit of a fussy eater at the moment, I'm afraid, but if you could get him to eat some fruit and vegetables that would be good. And here's my sister's number, that's where I'll be and call if you need _anything_. And you know Walt's number for emergencies."

He nodded. They did. "We'll take care of him," he promised.

"Bobby should be with you about nine," she went on.

He nodded again and tried not to think about the last time they'd seen Bobby.

She must have caught something in his expression, or maybe something in his lack of expression. "He's not angry with you."

"He was," Rusty said evenly.

She sighed. "He wasn't angry with you, he was just...Bobby thinks education is important. He wanted you to have choices."

They'd made their choice, and there was really nothing else he had to say to that. "We'll take care of Linus," he promised. "And I hope Craig's okay."

"Thank you," she said. "And thank you. I'll see you soon."

After the door closed behind her, he turned and leaned against it. They'd made the decision that he should drop out of school and Danny should drop out of college two weeks ago now. And they hadn't mentioned it to Bobby beforehand, they'd just said in passing the next time they saw him. And yes, didn't matter what Molly said, Bobby had been angry with them. Oh, he'd tried not to show it, tried to keep it all behind reasoned argument and 'stay in school speeches', but Rusty could tell. His mouth tightened; it wasn't like Bobby had that kind of say in their lives. No one did. They could make their own decisions.

When they'd told Saul, Saul had just looked at them gravely for a few moments.

"Are you sure that's what you want," he'd asked intently, and Rusty had nodded. Saul had smiled. "Okay then."

That was one of the things he liked (_loved?_) about Saul; Saul never treated him like he was a kid. (_Sometimes he thought that maybe Saul treated him like a son. But there was nothing to compare it to and he didn't know how to __ask._)

When he walked back into the living room, Linus was standing in front of Danny chattering away happily, talking to Danny about Smurfs. Rusty stood and watched while Danny did a spirited impression of Gargamel and Linus laughed gleefully.

Well, this could work.

"You know, when your TV habits are the same as a five year old, you might have to wonder how mature you really are," he commented.

"Danny likes Smurfs!" Linus told him happily, turning round. "Do you like Smurfs?"

He grinned. "Blue garden gnomes? Why not."

Linus frowned. "They're not gnomes, they're _Smurfs_," he insisted.

"Yeah, Rusty," Danny agreed. "Totally different."

"They're not different," he argued happily, sinking down into the seat opposite and watching as Linus clambered onto the sofa next to Danny. "You know those plastic garden gnomes you get?"

"Uh huh," Linus agreed, nodding seriously.

"Right." He leaned forwards, face serious. "They're Smurfs that stayed in the sun too long."

"Really?" Linus asked, wide-eyed.

"Yeah," Danny agreed, straight-faced. "They come back to life at night though. One time, me and Rusty left a lot of them in an evil – "

" – witch's – " Rusty cut in hastily.

" – right," Danny accepted the substitution with a grimace. "An evil witch named Juliet Darcey's garden."

"And they came _alive_?" Linus breathed.

"Uh huh," Rusty smiled. "They came alive and told everyone that the evil witch didn't deserve to be in the garden club."

Linus' nose wrinkled. "Why would a witch want to be in a garden club?"

"She wanted to pretend she was a real human being," Danny replied instantly.

"Oh." Linus sounded impressed and Rusty wasn't absolutely certain whether babysitting was supposed to involve lying to the baby in question. On the other hand, most of the story was true. For a given value of true.

"So what should we do?" he wondered.

* * *

Three hours later and they were playing with a selection of assorted toys spread out over the sofa.

"Spiderman is swinging!" Linus yelled enthuastically, crashing the little action doll into the stuffed kangaroo that Rusty was holding.

Danny grinned to himself as Rusty made the kangaroo turn it's head round. "Oh no! I'm scared of spiders!" he said, in what might be the worst Australian accent Danny had ever heard. Or, possibly, the best kangaroo accent. It wasn't altogether clear what Rusty was going for.

"I'm _not _a spider, I'm a spider_man," _Linus explained importantly. "And this is my friend dinosaurus."

"Hi," Danny squeaked obligingly, holding up a plastic model of what he'd been assured was a brontosaurus. "Do you want green eggs and ham?"

Linus laughed delightedly and grabbed something that Danny thought was probably meant to be a stuffed dog, or maybe a horse, and used it to provide the answer. He seemed to be having a good time. That was the main thing. Danny had no idea what they'd have done if the kid had been miserable. But he'd been fine, eyeing them curiously and chattering away fearlessly and assuming that they wanted nothing more than to play games with him.

When Danny had been Linus' age he'd had it well and truly drummed into his head that adults weren't interested in what he had to say, and they certainly were never interested in playing games. When _Rusty _had been Linus' age....well, that was another story altogether and a comparison that Bobby and Molly would probably be horrified to draw.

He watched as Spiderman, the kangaroo and the horse-dog cooked up a dish of green eggs and ham using felt tip pens and paper, signalling the end of the game.

Rusty stood up slowly, stretching. "Anyone feel like lunch? Linus? Are you hungry?"

"Yeah!" Linus shouted happily.

"What would you like to eat?" Rusty persisted.

Linus frowned and thought hard. "Ice cream," he said decidedly.

"No," Danny said hastily, a second or two before Rusty would have agreed.

Rusty looked at him, frowning.

"It's not exactly a nutritious meal," Danny explained in an undertone.

Rusty frowned some more. "That balanced diet stuff you mean," he said, just slightly darker than Danny really felt healthy eating warranted. "I'm not sure we've got anything nutritious in the fridge."

"Anything that's not dessert then?" he suggested. "A sandwich or something."

"Grilled cheese sandwiches?" Rusty offered. "Do you like them, Linus?"

Linus pouted. "Ice cream?"

"Maybe later," Danny said thoughtfully. Maybe they could go to the park. Kids were supposed to like going to the park. _He _liked getting out of the apartment.

Rusty was looking at him. "You're supposed to stay off the leg as much as possible."

"Kids need fresh air," Danny announced wisely, all the while thinking that _he _wanted fresh air and he could see Rusty wavering. "They shouldn't be kept locked up in doors all day."

"Okay," Rusty said quickly – too quickly, and Danny winced.

"I didn't mean – " he began in a whisper but Rusty shook his head. Right. Not the time. Still, he was sorry.

He picked up the toys around him slowly while Rusty went into the kitchen and started cooking. Took him a couple of moments before he realised that Linus was staring intently at Rusty.

"Are you a girl?" Linus asked bluntly.

Danny had a feeling he was going to die on choked laughter.

Rusty turned away from the stove, about as close to nonplussed as Danny had seen him. "_What?" _

Linus was completely undeterred. "You look like a girl. And you're cooking. Grandpa says girls cook. And your hair is yellow. Girls have yellow hair."

"You have yellow hair," Rusty said blankly and Danny bit his knuckles.

"But I'm a boy," Linus said, like it was obvious.

Danny gave up and descended into howls of laughter.

* * *

After the grilled cheese sandwiches were eaten and Rusty had finished carefully explaining that no, he was a boy, and if Linus _really _thought that all girls did was cooking he should try having a little chat with his mother, they'd decided that yeah, the park seemed like a good idea.

Linus stared with unabashed curiosity as Danny hobbled along on the crutches. "What happened to your leg?" he demanded.

They exchanged a quick glance, really telling a five-year-old that he'd got shot robbing a bar seemed like a no-no on every level.

"Car accident," he said easily. "Always look both ways before you cross the road." There. A lie _and _a moral. Who could ask for anything more?

"You should've held your Mommy's hand," Linus told him wisely. "I'm not s'posed to cross the road on my own."

For a second, Danny imagined himself holding his Mom's hand and he suppressed the snort of laughter at the thought. "That's sensible," he agreed instead, and when they came to the crossing that led to the park, he nudged Rusty until Rusty took the kid's hand. The right thing to do. Even if Rusty did look uncomfortable.

"Can I go on the swings?" Linus asked excitedly the moment they stepped into the park. "Please?"

"Of course," Rusty smiled.

"Can you push me? Please, please, please?" He was looking at both of them.

Danny looked down at the crutches. "That'd be you then," he murmured, and he took himself off to a nearby bench and watched while Rusty pushed Linus on the swings, and Linus squealed in delight and demanded that they go higher and faster.

The park was pretty busy. Lots of other children and lots of parents. The nearest of whom were eying him indulgently. Huh. Well, as long as they were assuming older brother and not son, he was probably okay with that.

Ten minutes later, and Rusty sprawled out on the bench beside him, while Linus followed a group of other kids on some wild adventure round and round the playground.

Rusty sighed. "This is – "

" - yeah," Danny agreed. It was weird.

They sat in comfortable silence, making sure they had Linus in their sight all the time. Last thing they wanted to do was lose Bobby and Molly's kid. That sort of thing was never going to be popular.

An argument on the climbing frame had them on their feet, and when the other kid pushed Linus to the ground they were already rushing over, right along with the other kid's mother.

"Scott! I've told you before about that," she hissed. "Play _nicely." _The boy looked shamefaced.

Linus was on the ground, crying and holding his hand. Danny dropped to the ground beside him, ignoring the second's searing protest from his leg. "Hey, kid," he said gently. "Come on. Let me see."

"Apologise to that boy," the mother went on.

"S'rry," Scott muttered.

Linus continued to cry and Danny carefully reached out and took his hand. It was grazed and bleeding but it didn't look too bad. He breathed an internal sigh of relief; the kid would be fine. "You're okay," he promised. "Let's get you cleaned up, huh?"

"It hurts!" Linus wailed.

"I know, I know," Danny soothed.

"You're being really brave," Rusty assured him from where he was hanging back awkwardly. Danny wasn't entirely sure which of them Rusty was talking to.

Between sobs, Linus choked out something incoherent.

Danny frowned. "What?"

"He wants a bandaid," Scott's mother told them helpfully. "Bandaids are magical, aren't they sweetheart?"

Linus nodded frantically.

"I've got bandaids and some antiseptic spray if you want?" she offered, and she was smiling, and somehow she reminded Danny of Mabel.

"Thank you," he said gratefully, and she rummaged in her bag and came out with a selection of first aid supplies.

Danny settled down in front of Linus and set about seeing to his hand as gently as possible.

"You're very good at that," Scott's mother commented.

"Thanks," Danny said, and didn't think about why. "There, now, Linus. Just need to put the bandaid on and you'll be all set."

"Kiss better!" Linus demanded.

Danny blinked. Not like he hadn't heard the idea, but he'd never really been part of it himself. Still. He looked at Linus' pleading face and it wasn't like he could say no. Carefully, he planted a kiss on Linus' hand. "There you go."

"Rusty too!" Linus went on, and he sounded like he might start crying again.

He glanced back at Rusty, and Rusty was wide-eyed and unblinking and Rusty really wasn't good with outward displays of affection. Still, it wasn't like Rusty could say no either, and he watched as Rusty stepped forwards and gingerly kissed Linus' hand. "There you go," Rusty echoed. "All better?"

"Yeah," Linus beamed, pain apparently forgotten, and he let Danny lay the bandaid over the graze.

"Would you like some ice-cream?" Rusty offered, and Danny wasn't altogether sure whether it was a distraction technique or whether _Rusty _wanted ice-cream. Probably both.

"Yeah!" Linus said again, even more happily.

Danny struggled to his feet, picking up the crutches, and he shot Rusty a look that said _you go. _

Rusty nodded. "Come on then," he said to Linus.

"Big brothers?" Scott's mother asked, as he watched them leave, Linus' hand firmly in Rusty's.

"Family friends," he corrected. "Just looking after him for the day."

"Looks like you're doing okay," she told him, and that was actually reassuring. "Good job on not panicking."

"Thanks," he said, and she smiled at him, and took her son towards the swings.

Not panicking. Yeah. Danny thought that he could maybe do with a nice lie down.

* * *

Ice-cream would help. Ice-cream would definitely help. _Chocolate _ice-cream. It wasn't that Rusty thought that all life's problems could be solved with chocolate, but it was never really a bad starting point.

He bought three ice-cream cones and looked at Linus consideringly. All too easy to imagine the cone falling out of little hands on the walk back to Danny. And then there would be more tears. Rusty wasn't comfortable with tears. Rusty hadn't been good with crying children back when he was a child. He doubted that anything had changed.

"You can have this when we're back with Danny, okay?" he explained and Linus nodded solemnly.

"Okay," he agreed.

Danny was slumped on the bench, looking like he was completely wiped out. He smiled when Rusty passed him a cone. Yeah. Ice-cream made things better.

"Here you go," Rusty said, passing the other cone down to Linus and he watched, bemused, as Linus pretty much mashed the ice-cream against his face. He could only assume that Linus was actually managing to taste some of it.

"You on a bad day," Danny murmured.

"I savour my food," Rusty said with dignity, and he closed his eyes and enjoyed his ice-cream. Mmmm. Cold and sweet and deliciously creamy. Just what he needed on a hot day.

He could feel Danny's amusement but he wasn't going to rise to it.

Luckily he'd thought to grab a couple of napkins and he managed to clean Linus' hands and face to respectable levels.

"Did you say thank you to Rusty for the ice-cream?" Danny asked lazily.

"Thank you, Rusty," Linus said obediently, leaning forwards and hugging Rusty, to Rusty's complete astonishment.

"You're welcome," he managed to say.

Linus' eyes widened and he smiled like he'd just thought of something wonderful. "I'm going to make you ice-cream!" he announced, and he started to run off.

"Wait!" Rusty said immediately.

"Where are you going?" Danny added.

In response, Linus pointed at the sandpit on the other side of the playpark. Well, that seemed reasonable enough.

He glanced at Danny and they sighed and strolled after Linus. They wanted to stay close, after all.

"You encouraging manners now," he asked as they walked.

Danny grinned. "If the kid's going to grow up to be a conman he needs to get started on being charming and personable as soon as possible."

"Right," he nodded. "It's all about the education."

When they got there, Linus was sitting in front of an indiscriminate lump of sand. He gestured to them. "Have some ice-cream," he said generously.

Playing pretend. That he could do. "Thank you," he said with a smile, sitting down in front of Linus and pretending to take a spoonful. "Mmm," he said, closing his eyes and licking his lips appreciatively.

Linus giggled. "You're funny," he told Rusty seriously.

"Knew someone had to think you were," Danny said, an audible grin in his voice.

* * *

They went home via MacDonalds. Linus got a Happy Meal with a toy train. Rusty got a banana milkshake and extra fries. Difficult to say which of them enjoyed the experience more.

"Movie?" Rusty suggested as he took off his jacket.

Danny nodded. Something quiet. Something that would hopefully keep the kid calmed down for the rest of the evening, right until Bobby showed up. "I'll try and find something – "

" – suitable," Rusty nodded.

They had a lot of movies. Mostly they bought absolutely anything that caught their eye. Somewhere in the mix there had to be something that was suitable for a kid.

He tossed aside 'Jaws' and 'The Thing' and pulled out 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. Perfect.

The movie played and Linus seemed to enjoy it even if he wasn't necessarily following it.

"Why doesn't the queen like Snow White?" he asked wonderingly.

"Because she's evil," Rusty said promptly.

Danny turned his head slowly. "Evil, huh?"

Linus was waiting expectantly for elaboration.

"See, the queen was trying to rule her kingdom but Snow White came along and spent all the money," Rusty explained.

"On Avon products," Danny added.

"What's Avon?" Linus asked.

Danny took a deep breath. "Avon is a company that come to the door and insist that you need to buy toner and moisturizer and herbal cleanser no matter how often you tell them you don't moisturize."

"You got issues I don't know about?" Rusty asked, amused.

"I don't want to talk about it," Danny said shortly.

"And you should moisturize," Rusty added, as an afterthought. "Otherwise, way you frown, you'll wind up with stress lines by the time you're forty

He frowned and, feeling his forehead, made a conscious effort to stop. "If I do, I'll know who to blame," he warned darkly.

Rusty grinned. "You gonna blame me for you aging?"

"Yep," Danny was definite on that. "Every grey hair I get, it's gonna be down to you."

"Something to look forward to," Rusty noted. "Anyway, Linus. That's why Snow White is evil."

"I mean, really," Danny went on. "You ever seen anyone who looks like that in real life?"

Linus thought for a moment and shook his head.

"Well, then," Danny nodded happily. "Avon."

It didn't look like Linus was exactly following their version of events either, but he seemed more than content to listen, enchanted, for the rest of the movie.

* * *

By the time the movie wound to an end, and Snow White had married the handsome Prince of the Avon corporation, and settled down to a life as a professional shoe tester, Linus was yawning nonstop.

"Bedtime," Danny decided and Rusty could've told him that was going to be a bad idea.

"No!" Linus said with immediate and sleepy petulance. "I want to wait up for Daddy."

Yeah. Was going to be a few hours before Bobby got here. That really wasn't going to happen. "Why don't you just lie down and then you can be ready for when your Dad gets here?" he suggested.

Linus seemed to consider that for a second. "Can I have a story?"

Uh…."Sure," he said.

Getting a sleepy five-year-old into pyjamas and into bed was difficult. But they were persuasive and patient and kept him distracted with as many jokes and passing thoughts as seemed suitable, and eventually, they got him lying down.

"Story?" he asked hopefully.

Rusty smiled. "Okay." He settled down on the chair next to Danny's bed, trying not to think that the last time he'd been sat here, after Danny got shot. He took a deep breath and started to tell Linus the story. "It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers," he began, and he didn't have the book, of course, but he hoped the story would work just as much without. "Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful."

He was barely through the first chapter when he realized that Linus was asleep.

Danny was standing in the doorway, looking at him expressionlessly. "That story?"

He was sorry. Because, thinking about it, he knew what it must mean to Danny. But him, he remembered comfort and concern and caring. Being safe and warm and loved. Besides. Danny had read it to him. And Danny's voice was always going to be fresher in his mind than anything he'd read.

He met Danny's eyes and let Danny see all of that in a moment of silence and openness.

"And it's a good story," he added, when he could see the sentimental sweeping unstoppably through Danny.

"Yeah," Danny agreed his voice a little unsteady. "It is."

* * *

The doorbell rang at eight, as they were slumped in front of the TV watching something mindless and explosive.

"Bobby?" Danny asked, glancing over.

Rusty shrugged. "He's early if it is."

They shared the thought; Bobby being early probably shouldn't be unexpected.

Rusty stood up and pulled the door open. It was Bobby. Looking anxious and exhausted.

"Linus – " Bobby began.

" – he's fine," Rusty reassured him immediately. Least he had been the last Rusty had checked. Which had been about ten minutes ago. He didn't know what they were afraid of exactly.

Bobby breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you for this," he said, as Rusty stood back and let him in.

"It's fine, Bobby," Danny called. "Anytime."

"He's okay?" Bobby checked. "He didn't give you any trouble?"

"Good as gold," Rusty promised lightly. He frowned. "Some other kid shoved him down in the park and he grazed his hand, but he's alright. He's asleep."

Bobby nodded, still looking a little anxious, and followed Rusty through to Danny's bedroom. He smiled as he saw Linus, deep and undeniable warmth in his eyes.

Linus blinked and sleepily and sat up. "Daddy!" he exclaimed, scrambling out of bed and running to Bobby. "Daddy, I had ice-cream and we played in the park, and I watched Snow White and she's an Acon lady, and we ate burgers and I've got a train!"

Bobby laughed and picked him up. "So you had a good time, then?"

"Yeah!" Linus agreed enthusiastically. "I want to be like DannyandRusty when I grow up!"

"I thought you wanted to be like me," Bobby teased affectionately.

"I want to be like both of you," Linus explained.

"We'll see," Bobby said, still smiling. He carried Linus out to the living room, and Danny was waiting for them, handing Bobby the bag.

"Here you go," he said. "How's Molly's nephew. You heard anything?"

"He's doing okay," Bobby said. "They're saying if he continues to improve, he should get home the day after tomorrow.

"Good," Rusty said sincerely. "That's good."

"Yeah," Bobby agreed. He paused, looking at them awkwardly, and Linus seemed to have fallen asleep against his shoulder. "Look, about what I said before...it's not that I don't think you can do this, you know that, right?"

"We know," Danny answered for them, and Rusty nodded. They did know.

"You're good now, and one day you'll be amazing," Bobby went on, his eyes fixed on them. "I've known that since you were kids."

Rusty didn't have to look to see the feeling of pride and pleasure for the praise. Coming from Bobby, it meant something.

"I worry about you, that's all," Bobby said, sounding almost apologetic, and really, they'd always known that. He sighed. "Education is important, and sometimes I remember how young you are and forget that you're not children. I'm sorry."

"'s okay," Rusty said, and he meant it.

Bobby looked at him and nodded sharply. "Good," he said. "And thank you. For today. I don't know what we'd have done without you."

"It's nothing," Danny said, smiling as Rusty walked Bobby to the door.

As the door closed behind Bobby, Rusty looked back at him incredulously and Danny grimaced in agreement.

Babysitting. Yeah. Vegas had looked simpler.

* * *

In Vegas, Virgil and Turk were fighting over the microphone as Turk tried to 'Back in Black' and Virgil tried to sing 'Man in Black', both to the tune of 'Paint it Black'. It was something of a disaster. And probably a fight waiting to happen.

Linus was still bemoaning his life, his head buried in his hands. "I just can't believe you babysat for me. My life is a joke, you know that? It's like...half the people I work with knew me when I was a little kid. No wonder no one takes me seriously."

"Plenty of people take you seriously," Livingston said reassuringly. Unfortunately there was a snigger in his voice when he said it.

Linus groaned. "Just once, I wish I wasn't the one being embarrassed."

Saul snorted. "That time you got your own back," he said, and he and Bobby exchanged a look.

Bobby laughed and shook his head. "Oh, I'd forgotten that."

"What?" Linus asked eagerly.

Rusty sighed, remembering. "Oh, fuck."

Danny looked at him, eyebrows raised, and then his eyes widened. "Oh, yeah. Fuck."

"Turns out you'd already got chicken pox," Bobby explained. "Lucky you got it mildly."

"Unluckily, you'd already passed it on," Saul added.

There was a pause, and Linus stared at them wide-eyed. "Oh!" Then he started to laugh. "Oh."

Yeah. Oh.


End file.
